1. Field
A hinge apparatus and an oven with the same are disclosed herein.
2. Background
Generally, an oven (or an oven range) is an appliance in which food to be cooked is put in a cooking space thereof, and then heated and cooked after a door thereof is closed.
Such an oven is formed so that the cooking space is opened and closed by a hinge apparatus which connects a main body forming the cooking space with the door, while the door is rotated.
The hinge apparatus is formed so the door is more safely and slowly opened to ensure user safety from heat generated upon a cooking operation, when the food is cooked using the oven, and also smoothly closed.
In Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0020213, there is disclosed a hinge apparatus for an oven, in which a damping means is connected to a hinge shaft of a door member of the hinge apparatus so as to provide resistance when a door is closed, such that the door is slowly closed.
However, since the hinge apparatus having such a structure has a very complicated structure, there are some problems that a manufacturing cost is increased, and productivity is lowered. Also, there is another problem that, when the hinge apparatus is installed at a main body, an installation space is restricted by the damping means which protrudes in a lateral direction of the hinge apparatus.
In Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0019787, there is disclosed a door hinge apparatus for an oven, in which a roller which is folded when a door member is rotated is installed at a guide member inside a housing of the hinge apparatus, and a damper member which enables a door to be slowly closed by hydraulic resistance when the door member is rotated is provided at an end of the guide member.
However, in the hinge apparatus having such a structure, since all of the roller, the guide member and the damper member should be accommodated in the housing, there are some problems that an internal structure of the housing becomes complicated, and a manufacturing cost is increased.
Also, when a size of the hinge apparatus is changed according to a type of the oven, an arrangement of the roller, the guide member and the damper member provided inside the housing is also changed, and thus it is difficult to apply the hinge apparatus to various products.